Oven door construction



Jan. 13, 1970 F. T. ASTRELLA OVEN DOOR CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 21, 1968 INVENTOR. rwefasuszffa Jan. 13, 1970 F. T. ASTRELLA OVEN DOOR CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 21, 1968 INVENTOR.

Jan. 13, 1970 F. T. ASTRELLA OVEN DOOR CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet I,

Filed June 21, 1968 United States Patent O 3,489,135 OVEN DOOR CONSTRUCTION Frank T. Astrella, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Indian Head Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 21, 1968, Ser. No. 738,911 Int. Cl. F24c 15/04; E06b 3/26, 3/50 US. Cl. 126198 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An oven door comprising a frame having a substantially rectangular opening hingedly connected to the oven so that the rearward side thereof is adjacent the oven when the door is closed. A glass inner panel is mounted within the opening adjacent the rearward side of the frame, thus providing with the frame an assembly having an outwardly facing rectangular recess. Within this recess is hingedly mounted a substantially rectangular outer panel. A latch opposite the hinge cooperates with the hinge to maintain the outer panel in spaced parallel relation with respect to the frame and its glass inner panel. The outer panel is spaced a predetermined distance from the aperture-defining portions of the main frame so that a controlled quantity of air may pass into and through the space between the inner and outer panels. The construction permits cleaning of the panels and substantially reduces the temperature of the exterior surfaces of the door.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an oven door of the type incorporating window means for viewing the oven interior when the door is closed and has particular application in the modern eye-level oven. In the past, it has been common practice to provide a unitary double-glass panel for a windowed oven door with a substantially dead insulating air space between the two panels. It has been found, however, that there is a very great tendency for condensation to collect between the panels, and sooner or later the inner surfaces of the glass panels require cleaning. In the usual construction this is a difficult operation requiring disassembly of the door at least to a certain extent. Moreover, although double-glazed oven doors are designed to prevent the transmission of oven heat, the outer panel usually becomes quite hot, particularly after the oven has been on for some period of time.

A door constructed in accordance with the present invention not only permits the panels to be easily and quickly cleaned while the oven door itself is in a closed position relative to the oven, but it, also, substantially reduces the temperature of the outer panel. This is particularly important in the modern eye-level oven doors having a wide expanse of glass. The temperature of the outer panel is so reduced that this panel need not be fully tempered. Thus, very dark or other decorative glass may be employed as the outer panel permitting the use of unlimited decorator styling for the oven.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, the oven door construction comprises a frame having a substantially rectangular central opening, the rearward side of the frame being adapted to a disposition adjacent the oven when the door is closed. A transparent glass inner panel is sealingly mounted within and closes the central opening of the frame adjacent the rearward side thereof, thus providing with the frame an assembly having an outwardly facing rectangular recess. Within this recess is disposed a substantially rectangular outer panel assembly which includes a protective outer panel. Hinge means extends between one side of the outer panel assembly and the opening-defining portions of the frame to ice pivotally connect the outer panel assembly to the frame for movement with respect to the frame between an open and a closed position. Latch means extending between the opposite side of the outer panel assembly and the openingdefining portions of the frame releasably connects that side of the said assembly to the frame when the assembly is in its closed position. When the outer panel assembly is in its closed position, the hinge means and latch means cooperate to releasably maintain the outer panel assembly in spaced parallel relation with respect to the glass panel in the frame, and they cooperate to maintain the peripheral portions of the outer panel assembly within the central opening of the frame in interiorly spaced relation with the aperture-defining portions of the frame. Thus, air may pass into, through and out of the space between the glass inner panel in the frame and the outer panel assembly. The outer panel assembly may be unlatched and swung open to permit viewing of the oven interior through the main frame panel or to permit cleaning of the panels.

It is preferred that the outer panel assembly be spaced from the surrounding recess-defining portions of the frame not only at the top and bottom sides thereof but, also, at the lateral sides. It has been found that the spacing between the outer panel assembly and frame at the top and bottom of the assembly should be on the order of between about /2% and 3% of the largest dimension (usually the width) of the assembly, thereby providing the desired degree of cooling for the outer panel while preventing excessive cooling of the inner panel.

With reference to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a range having an eye-level oven employing a door constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the door swung to its open position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the door with the outer panel assembly open for viewing or cleaning;

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevational view taken substantially along line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional elevational view taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a latch means taken substantially along line '66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a door construction having a slightly modified placement of the hinge means and latch means;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a door construction having a further modified placement of the hinge means and latch means;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a door having an outer panel assembly of slightly modified construction;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of the construction of FIG. 9 taken substantially along line 10-10 of FIG. 9 and showing the hinge connection between the frame and the outer panel assembly; and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal crosssectional view of the construction of FIG. 9 looking downwardly at the latch connection between the main frame and the oven and the main frame and the outer panel assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 there is illustrated an eye-level oven 10 employing an oven door 12 constructed in accordance with this invention. In this illustration the oven 10 is part of a cooking range generally known as a free standing, high oven model which is a combination oven and stove unit. It will be appreciated that the door 12 may be employed with so-called built-in ovens which are actually built into a wall of a home or to ovens which are mounted beneath the burner elements in a stove unit.

The invention has particular applicability to an eyelevel oven since this type of oven commonly employs a door having a large expanse of glass. However, the invention may be employed with any type of oven which has a door with a glass viewing panel therein.

In accordance with the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 15, the oven door 12 comprises a substantially rectangular main frame 14 which has a substantially rectangular central opening 15 (see FIG. 4) and is preferably constructed of stainless steel. The main frame 14 is connected to the oven by suitable hinging means, which may include a pair of pins 16 and 18 extending respectively from the top and bottom of the main frame at one side thereof, these pins being journaled in corresponding brackets 19 and 20 attached to and extending forwardly from the front face 10a of the oven 10. Suitable latching means may be employed to maintain the oven door 12 in a closed position with respect to the opening in the oven. One such latch structure is illustrated in FIG. 11 and will be later described. The hinging of the main frame 14 to the oven 10 is such that when the door is closed, the back face 14a of the frame will be in sealing engagement with the front face 10a of the oven circumjacent the opening in the oven. If desired, a suitable sealing gasket may be employed between the door and oven.

Mounted within the central opening of the main frame 14 adjacent the rearward face 14a thereof is a transparent panel 22, preferably constructed of tempered glass. The peripheral edges of the panel 22 preferably are disposed within a channel 24 in the opening-defining portions of the main frame adjacent the rearward face 14a of the main frame. A resilient heat-resistant seal 26 is preferably disposed between the metal portions of the channel 24 and the panel 22. The panel 22 thus closes the central opening 15 and the main frame 14 and together with the main frame 14 provides a front closure for the oven 10.

Since the panel 22 is disposed adjacent the rearward face of the main frame 14, the main frame 14 and panel 22 define a forwardly or outwardly facing rectangular recess 28. Mounted within this recess adjacent the forward face 14b of the main frame is a protective outer panel assembly 30. The outer panel assembly 30 is hinged to the main frame so that it may be swung between an open and a closed position giving access to the recess 28 and to the front surface of the panel 22.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. l-8 the protective outer panel assembly 30 includes an outer panel 31 mounted within a substantially rectangular metal subframe 32. The subframe 32 has a channel portion 32a in which the peripheral portions of the outer panel 31 are disposed and a horizontal flange portion 32b extending inwardly within the recess toward the panel 22.

The subframe 32 may be hinged to the main frame 14 by means of a pair of hinge pins or bolts 34 (FIG. 4), each pin having an enlarged head portion 36, a shank portion 38 which extends through the flange 32b in the subframe 32, and a threaded portion 40 which extends through an aperture in the opening-defining portions of the main frame 14 and is threaded into a plate or nut 42 welded or otherwise affixed within the hollow interior of the main frame 14, as best illustrated in FIG. 4.

The outer panel assembly 30 is smaller in height than the opening 15 in the main frame 14. Thus, even when the assembly is closed with respect to the main frame as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, there remains a passage at the top and bottom of the subframe into the recess 28. Air may pass through this passage between the main frame and the bottom of the subframe into the recess 28 and upwardly along the outside surface of the panel 22, and thence outwardly through the passage between the main frame and the top of the subframe. This flow of air through the space between the inner panel 22 and outer panel 31 will purge the hot air from the space and will prevent the excessive heating of the outer panel 31. It is desirable, however, to maintain a control over the amount of air which passes into the space 28 so that cooling of the inner panel 22 is minimized. For this purpose it has been found that the spacing at the top and at the bottom of the outer panel assembly between the subframe 32 and the main frame 14 should be on the order of between about /2 and 3% of the largest dimension of the outer panel assembly 30. In the embodiments illustrated the width is the largest dimension. Thus, if the assembly subframe 32 is 24 in width, the minimum distance between the opening-defining portions of the main frame and the top and bottom portions of the subframe should be on the order of about .12" or A3", and the distance may be as great as .72 or A". The preferred range of distance is between 1% and 2% of the maximum dimension of the subframe 32, thereby giving optimum results insofar as controlled cooling of the area between the inner panel 22 and the protective outer panel 31 without excessive cooling of the inner panel 22. It is preferred that the same spacing be provided at the lateral sides of the assembly subframe 32, thus providing a continuous, peripherally-extending air passage into and from the recess 28.

The outer panel assembly 30 may be swung from a closed position as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 to an open position. In FIG. 3 the assembly is shown partially open, being swung to this position on the hinge pins 34, which as previously described are mounted at one side of the subframe and main frame. At the opposite side of the subframe and main frame, latch means 40 is provided which in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3-8 comprises a pair of pins 42 and 44 which are fixed to and protrude from the inwardly-extending flange portion 32b of the subframe 32. These pins 42 and 44 engage in spring keepers 46 and 48 respectively which are attached to the main frame 14 and are disposed within the opening thereof.

The keepers 46 and 48 are identically constructed. As shown in FIG. 6, the keeper 46 is a substantially U-shaped structure having a rearward central web portion 50 connecting two spaced leg portions 51 and 52. The central web 50 of the keeper 46 is attached to a base plate 54 which is mounted on the aperture-defining portions of the main frame 14. At about the center of each leg portion 51 and 52 is a knee portion 51a and 52a respectively. From the rearward web 50 the legs extend slightly inwardly to the knee portions 51a and 52a, and then they flare outwardly to provide a relatively wide mouth for receiving the pin 42. In the closing operation, wherein the pin 42 moves in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 6, the pin will enter the month between the extremities of the legs 51 and 52 and engage the knee portions 51a and 52a. Additional pressure on the pin 42 will cause it to cam open the legs 51 and 52 and to move into the space between the knees 51a and 52a and thence against the rearward central web 50, with the knees closing behind to resiliently lock the pin within the keeper. The pin 42 will be resiliently held in place by the knee portions 51a and 52a of the resilient legs 51 and 52 of the keeper, until a sufficient force is applied to the pin to overcome the resilience of the legs 51 and 52.

When the subframe is closed and the pins 42 and 44 are resiliently held in their respective keepers 46 and 48, the protective panel 31 will preferably lie parallel to the transparent glass panel 22 of the main frame, as shown in FIG. 5.

The keepers 46 and 48 are disposed on the main frame on the opposite side thereof from the hinge pins 34 so that when the keepers are engaged, the subframe will be locked in position with respect to the main frame. In the illustrated embodiment the keepers 46 and 48 and the pins 34 extend from the top and bottom aperture-defining portions of the main frame 14. However, it will be appreciated that a single latch structure may be employed. For example, a single keeper 46 may be positioned on the vertically extending portion of the main frame to engage a single pin 42 extending from the vertically extending portion of the subframe 32.

As previously stated, the main frame 14 is hinged at one side to the oven 10, and to facilitate the opening of the oven door, a suitable handle 56 may be provided (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 3). It is preferred that the subframe 32 be hinged to the main frame on the opposite side from the hinging of the main frame to the oven. Thus, hinge pins 34 are on the opposite side of the main frame from hinge pins 16 and 18. This will tend to prevent accidental opening of the subframe 32 when intending to open the oven door and vice versa. The subframe is provided with a suitable handle 58, and since the subframe hinges are disposed opposite the hinges for the main frame, the handle 58 for the subframe will be disposed at the opposite side of the door 12 from the handle 56. The handle 58 is preferably smaller than or otherwise easily distinguished visibly from the handle 56.

If it is desired to hinge the subframe 32 on the same side as the hinging for the main frame 14, an arrangement such as shown in FIG. 7 may be employed. It will be noted that in this embodiment the handle 56 for the main frame 14 is disposed on the vertical portion of the main frame, whereas the handle 58 is disposed at the bottom of the subframe on the horizontally extending portion thereof. Except for the disposition of the hinge for the subframe and the handle 58 of the subframe, the structure illustrated in FIG. 7 is identical to that illustrated in FIGS. 1-5.

A slightly different arrangement is illustarted in FIG. 8. In this embodiment the structures of main frame 14 and of the subframe 32 are substantially the same as previously described, but both the hinging of the subframe 32 to the main frame 14 and the latching of these two structures together are slightly different than that of the previously described embodiments. In the embodiment of FIG. 8 the subframe 32 is hinged adjacent the top of the main frame 14 for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis, and the latching mechanisms are at the bottom of the frame and subframe. Again the handle 58" for the subframe 32 is located remote from the main handle 56 for the main frame 14.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 911, the outer panel assembly 60 consists of an outer panel 62, preferably of glass and having the hinging and latching hardware attached directly thereto. As shown in FIG. 9 the main frame 64 is hinged to the oven 66 by suitable hinge means 68 as in the previously described embodiments. The main frame may be locked in a closed position with respect to the oven by means of a catch prong 70 (FIG. attached thereto cooperating with a spring biased keeper wheel 72 carried by the oven 66. A tempered glass panel 74 is held in place in the main frame 64 by means of a spacer 76 which is actually part of and closes the interior of the main frame, just as in the previously illustrated embodiments.

A pair of hinges 77 at one side of the main frame pivotally connect the outer panel assembly 60 to the main frame 64. Each of the hinges 77 includes a hinge plate 78 (see FIG. 10) which may be connected to the main frame by means of a first bolt 80 extending inwardly from the exterior of the main frame through an internal support bracket 82 into one side of interiorly disposed spacer nut 84 and a coaxial second bolt 86 extending through the hinge plate 78 and the main frame spacer 76 to threadedly engage the other side of the spacer nut 84. A flanged hinge bracket 88 is connected directly to the protective outer panel 62 by suitable fasteners 92. The flanged end 88a of this bracket is pivotally connected to the hinge plate 78 by means of a hinge pin or rivet 94. Thus the outer panel assembly 60 be opened and closed by pivotal movement about the axis of the hinge pin 94. In FIG. 10 the upper hinge is illustrated, and it will be appreciated that the lower hinge for the door is identically constructed.

In FIG. 11 the preferred construction of the latch is illustrated. The catch prong 70 has a threaded end 70a which extends through an aperture in the frame 64 and threadedly engages one end 9611 of a Z-shaped keeper bracket 96 within the interior main frame. The opposite end 96b of the bracket extends outwardly through an aperture 76a in the spacer 76. Attached to the outer panel 62 by a fastener 98 is a flanged latch bracket 100, and a latch arm 102 is pivotally connected to the flanged portion 100a of the bracket 100 by means of a pivot pin or rivet 104. The latch arm 102 has a latch formation 102a which extends inwardly from the pivot pin 104, and a somewhat longer portion 102]) extends outwardly and has a handle 106 attached thereto. The latch formation 102a is adapted to engage the end 96:: of the keeper bracket 96 when the outer panel assembly 60 is in a closed position as illustrated in FIG. 11.

In order to open the oven, an outward pull on the handle 106 will result in the disengagement of the catch prong 70 from the spring biased wheel 72 in the oven frame, and the entire door will swing outwardly on the hinges 68 (see FIG. 9). If, on the other hand, it is desired merely to open the outer panel assembly 60 for viewing of the interior of the oven or for cleaning of the glass panels, the handle 106 is merely raised to pivot the arm 102 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 9 thus disengaging the latch formation 102a from the end 96a of the keeper bracket. The handle 106 is then pulled outwardly to pivot the outer panel assembly on its hinges consisting of the hinge plates 78, the hinge brackets 88 and the hinge pins 94. This particular embodiment has an advantage in that it eliminates the necessity for a subframe and permits the outer panel to be hinged directly to the main frame thereby reducing the cost of the unit and giving the door a lighter, more open appearance. As in the previously described embodiments, the spacing between the peripheral portions of the outer panel assembly and the circumjacent portions of the main frame is between 1% and 2% of the maximum dimension of the assembly (which in this embodiment is the height).'

In all the embodiments illustrated, the spacing between the main frame and the outer panel assembly is such as to provide a controlled ventilation of the space between protective outer panel and the tempered glass inner panel. It has been found that with proper design, the cooling is sufficient to enable the protective outer panel to be constructed of a glass which is not fully tempered. This permits the glass to be colored or smoked and, thus, materially adds to the attractiveness of the oven design by permitting the use of many decorator stylings on or in connection with the oven door.

If the protective outer panel is given an opacity, the hinging of the outer panel assembly to the main frame not only is used to permit cleaning of the space between the main frame and subframe, but the subframe may be pivotally opened in order to give unobstructed viewing of the interior of the oven.

It is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that many additional modifications, changes, and various details may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is: I

1. An oven door construction comprising a main frame having a substantially rectangular central opening, the rearward side of said main frame being adapted for disposition adjacent the oven when said door is closed, a. transparent first panel sealingly mounted within and closing the central opening of said main frame adjacent the rearward side thereof, thereby providing with said main frame an assembly having an outwardly facing rectangular recess, a protective panel disposed at least partially within said recess, hinge means adjacent one side of said protective panel within said recess and extending between said protective panel and the opening-defining portions of said main frame to pivotally connect said protective panel to said main frame for movement with respect to said frame between an open and a closed position, latch means adjacent the opposite side of said protective panel and extending between said protective panel and the opening-defining portions of said main frame to releasably connect said protective panel to said main frame when said protective panel is in its closed position, said hinge means and said latch means cooperating to maintain said protective panel in spaced parallel relation with respect to said first panel and cooperating to maintain the peripheral portions of said protective panel within the central opening of said main frame in interiorly spaced relation with aperture-defining portions of said frame when said protective panel is in its closed position, Whereby air may pass into and out of the space between said first panel and said protective panel through the space between the peripheral portions of said protective panel and the opening-defining portions of the main frame.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said hinge means and said latch means cooperate to maintain the peripheral portions of said protective panel in interiorly spaced relation with the aperture-defining portions at the top and bottom sides of said main frame.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said protective panel is in interiorly spaced relation with respect to the aperturedefining portions at the lateral sides of said main frame.

4. The structure of claim 2 wherein the space between said main frame and said protective panel along the top and bottom sides thereof is between /2% and 3% of the largest dimension of the protective panel.

5. The structure of claim 1 wherein said protective panel is transparent.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein said transparent protective panel is glass.

7. The structure of claim 1 wherein said protective panel is opaque.

8. The structure of claim 1 wherein said protective panel is mounted within a subframe, and said hinge means and latch means extend between said subframe and said main frame to maintain the peripheral portions of said subframe in interiorly spaced relation with aperturedefining portions of said frame at the top, bottom and lateral sides thereof when said protective panel and subframe are in closed position.

9. In combination with an oven having a front opening, an oven door construction comprising a main frame having .a substantially rectangular central opening, means at one side of said main frame hingedly connecting said main frame to said oven adjacent said front opening, means at the opposite side of said main frame and oven for releasably holding said main frame in a closed position with the rearward side of said main frame disposed adjacent the opening-defining portions of said oven when said door construction is closed, a transparent first panel sealingly mounted within and closing the central opening of said main frame adjacent the rearward side thereof, thereby providing with said main frame an assembly having an outwardly facing rectangular recess, a protective panel disposed at least partially within said recess, hinge means adjacent one side of said protective panel within said recess and extending between said protective panel and the opening-defining portions of said main frame to pivotally connect said protective panel to said main frame for movement with respect to said frame between an open and a closed position, latch means adjacent the opposite side of said protective panel and extending between said protective panel and the opening-defining portions of said main frame to releasably connect said protective panel to said main frame when said protective panel is in its closed position, said hinge means and said latch means cooperating to maintain said protective panel in spaced parallel relation with respect to said first panel and cooperating to maintain the peripheral portions of said protective panel within the central opening of said main frame in interiorly spaced relation with aperture-defining portions of said frame when said protective panel is in its closed position, whereby air may pass into and out of the space between said first panel and said protective panel through the space between the peripheral portions of said protective panel and the opening-defining portions of the main frame.

10. The structure of claim 9 wherein the space between said main frame and said protective panel along the top, bottom and lateral sides thereof is between /2 and 3% of the largest dimension of the protective panel.

References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS KENNETH W. SPRAGUE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

